Sneaker ban?
 

I hate to admit this but I live in sneakers, and yes they're predominately white. Why is this so verboten in Italy / Europe? Will I really be so looked-down upon? They're so comfy and great for walking - what will I wear instead without looking like a 80 year old washer-woman (no offense to 80 year old washer women)? And I guess it goes without saying that my denim shorts and fanny pack are banned too?

<BR>IMHO denim shorts and fanny pack(and your baseball cap) are definetly a no no. But I have worn white sneakers every time I've been to Europe and have NEVER been arrested by the sneaker police. Go in comfort and enjoy.

Now I'm scared - how did you know I wear a baseball cap?

Damn.<BR><BR>I thought this post was going to be about a new sneaker deodoriser.

John,<BR><BR>I don't know if you've been to France lately, but the &quot;man's purse&quot; is quite popular and generally is a fanny pack. The younger generation (such as the college students) generally use fanny packs as well and sometimes something that resembles a purse. <BR><BR>ALSO, baseball caps are popular along with tennis shoes in all colors (bright yellow, neon green, red, etc.) including white.

I have some friends who went to France &amp; Italy last year during the summer, and saw plenty of people, not only tourists wearing sneakers and denim. Also, it seems that whenever I see European tourists in the USA going to sites during the day, they are also wearing denim. <BR><BR>Could we perhaps be looking up at Europeans a little too much?!?! I've seen plenty of Europeans who would be committed to life prison sentence if the fashion police arrested them! :)

Would we be better globally if everyone wore what they felt comfortable in and not give a hoot what anyone else thought.<BR>We certainly have enough in the world today to be concerned with.

<BR>GENESEA<BR>Haven't been to Europe since Oct.2002. Guess I wasn't paying attention to the purse carrying males?

Wear what you want to. If you look around places like Rome and Florence, you see every kind of outfit and costume.<BR><BR>I say no fanny pack for one big reason:<BR>If someone wants it, it will be gone in a flash. There are cut and run operations and skillful empty the contents forays with distractions galore. Jeans are not good because they are neither warm nor cool. In the summer they soak up sweat and get heavy.

how about going the hip-hop fashion angle - take clues from Missy Elliot - she's fierce

I hate to break it to you hightide, but &quot;sneakers&quot; are also verboten anywhere west of the East Coast. &quot;Sneakers&quot; are only worn by small children here. If you asked about wearing sneakers in the Mid West or West you would get a laugh, or get laughed at!

Well actually I live in the midwest and sneakers are everywhere here - have you been to the midwest lately jor?. I appreciate all the input and now don't feel quite so bad about my intented footwear....

Frankly when I see someone in Europe with a fanny pack, my first impression is that it is probably a German tourist, not an American. Far more Germans seem to wear them than Americans. And I have no idea what the idea is about only Americans wearing sneakers or denim -- everybody but me seems to be wearing both in Europe.

I hate getting political, but here goes.<BR><BR>What about the film footage from Paris showing 'Muslim' teans wearing blue jeans (the invention of which is attributed to whom?) beating up 'Jewish' teans wearing the same.

Being from the mid-west, everyone I know has called them tennis shoes. Even if they're running shoes, cross-trainers, etc.<BR><BR>I have no idea why. I know hardly anyone who plays tennis. And I've known quite a few people who were real sneaks. Just never heard anyone in conversation, other than on tv, call them sneakers. Weird.<BR><BR>I say, where what you want. Well, except maybe the fanny pack. Those things look like a growth!

JOR,<BR><BR>What part of the west are you referring to that people don't wear sneakers, tennis shoes, or whatever you want to call them. I live in California, which I think is on the West Coast, and I see them all over the place. Hey, you even see them all over Beverly Hills!

I am Italian,. I live in italy (Milano to be precise) and I am currently working with two female coleages. I am wearing a pair of balck demin trosers and balck sneakers. Donatella, the colleage on my right, is wearing denim trousers and white sneakers. Stefania, the coleage on my left, is wearing demin trousers, and... Well', she's not wearing sneakers, but she was wearing a baseball cap yesterday to fend of the sun.

You can definitely wear sneakers (we call em trainers) here in England. I wear them when I go on holiday - for comfort - I never worry - they seem to be worn everywhere for the same reason.<BR><BR>Please note (this is an 'old chestnut' I know, but just for a reminder!) - 'fanny pack' is known as a 'bum bag' in UK (bum being a word for the buttocks as well as a scrounger). Fanny is a word you DO NOT use in polite company! You would get some funny looks or sniggers :O)

As Alice said, sneakers and jeans are fine in Italy. If you do want to carry a fanny (bum) pack, then do it with Italian style, diagonally across your chest.

Actually only some people waer it that way, while most (at least here in Milano) wear a &quot;marsupio&quot; (that's also the Italian name of the kangaroo's &quot;bag&quot;) regularly around the waist. It was very used a few years ago, I had a multicolor cotton one, and I will probably buy a new one this summer, since the old one has falle apart. The only people I have seen wearing the fanny bag across the chest in Milano are immigrants from South America.

Doing a quick poll around my office here in London.<BR><BR>We're mostly aged 22-34, a design agency so we're more casually dressed than most offices and I can see (out of 6 people in eyeshot) 4 pairs of jeans, one denim skirt and one pair of khaki combats. On the feet, I can see 3 pairs of trainers (fashion, rather than suitable for anything more active than walking to the pub), and 3 pairs of boots (black and brown).<BR><BR>Having said that, our overweight 40+ managing director is wearing white trainers (as it's Friday) and we all think she looks ridiculous.<BR><BR>I think it's how you wear them.

We just returned from Spain where we did see a lot of jeans on younger people. What appears to be in there are very tight jeans with a slightly flared leg, with a bleached looking stripe down the front and back of each leg. Sneakers, tennis shoes whatever you call them are not the Avia, New Balance, Reebok white shoe that most of us in the US are used to. Rather there are a lot of the lowling shoe look which I suspect are not meant for walking comfort.<BR><BR>EnglishOne--Could you please enlighten an American as to exactly what the word &quot;fanny&quot; means, and how it would be used? I am familiar with the word &quot;bum&quot; and its use, but I never knew that &quot;fanny&quot; is offensive.

Don't ask for a definition of &quot;fanny&quot; or this thread will get pulled :)<BR><BR>In London, it always seems to me that the only people in jeans are under 30--maybe even under 25. I'm middle-aged (egad, I think that's the first time I've typed that--awful!)and I never see women my age in jeans and tennis shoes, except in line at the half-price ticket booth and they aren't speaking with an English accent--so I don't wear them either.<BR><BR>In Paris, I would just never think to wear jeans. Again, I only see them on under-30's. <BR><BR>However, at home I live in my jeans on weekends!

Hi Julies! Of course I'll enlighten you. 'Fanny' is a course word for (how can I put this - sorry..) female genitalia. Its not a terrible swearword such as the f word, but its on a par with, say, using the word c-ck or p--ck to represent the male bits. So therefore its not nice - especially in female company. I think older people would definitely find it offensive! but having said that, american english words are generally quite well known over here - daiper (nappy) hood (bonnet) faucet (tap) because of USA TV/movies. With the younger set - they would probably just find the phrase 'fanny pack' funny!

MelJ:<BR><BR>I am 32. My mom is 52 (and Italian) and she has just arrived at my offige showing me her new buys: two pair of jeans, one traditionally blue, the other red. She will wear them with her new pair of sneakers. My colleaguess age (colleages listed above) range from 31 to 38.

&quot;Fanny&quot; is UK slang for an extremely intimate part of the female anatomy. Thus the look of horror on certain people's faces when they hear Americans casually throwing around the term &quot;fanny pack&quot;....

EnglishOne... I'm sorry, but I'm laughing VERY hard right now.

Genesea<BR><BR>You wrote: &quot;I don't know if you've been to France lately, but the &quot;man's purse&quot; is quite popular and generally is a fanny pack&quot;<BR><BR>This reminds me of the Seinfeld episode in which George's father invents the man-siere or aka 'The Bro'.<BR><BR>Helps me to understand why the French are not willing to fight but are willing to get paid for 'rebuilding' Iraq.<BR><BR>MM

P.S. One of my best friends is named Fanny... gosh, how would she get by in the UK? hahahaha

Glad to cheer your day up Michelle! :O)<BR>Funnily enough, Fanny is also a first name here in England, but its an oldie - ie. you won't find anyone under the age of about 100 with it - I wonder why!!!!

EnglishOne:<BR><BR>In Italy (or at least in Milano, since I have not found it in Tuscany) there is an equivalent: Bernarda. Not so vulgar, more of a hjoke, but it is a female name (very much out of fashion) which also means... Her!

Well, she's only 33. No wonder our Welsh friend has a good chuckle every time he says her name...

Michelle..hehe... always a good one for comedians to make a 'double entendre' out of that one! Bit like 'Are you being served' (English 70s sitcom - I think they show it in USA) - with Mrs Slocombe and her (pussy..Cat!).. It was quite racey for the time!

Not familiar with it, but i'll certainly look for the program. I'll have to make sure that &quot;Fanny&quot; watches it as well so she can understand how rude her name is... hehehehehe

Michelle, the American man's name Randy also raises a smile in the UK.<BR>I believe that the American equivalent is &quot;horny&quot;. You can imagine the reaction to &quot;Hi, I'm Randy&quot;.<BR>An American friend of mine said that she saw a ladies' department in a London Marks and Spencers reduced to silence when a loud American voice asked &quot;Does my fanny look big in this?&quot;

<BR><BR>Some of what people are stating, or saying, or trying to impose upon others is their own sense of style. (and there's nothing wrong with that.)<BR><BR>I say - wear what you want. Just be comfortable, and don't drool when you eat.

Sylvia - liked that one!! <BR><BR>Its one of those words that kind of makes you freeze when you hear it shouted out loud! The poor woman probably wondered what was wrong. I wonder if theres any words we say over there thats inappropriate?! I alway use the term 'bathroom' when in USA - toilet is frowned on I think. It sounds nicer anyway. I think we should adopt it!

I see a lot of descriptions of what the French, Italians, and Brits wear, but how about more about what Spaniards wear? Seems the &quot;sneakers&quot; in Spain, if I read the comment above right, are not of the casual, sporty variety elsewhere. Would a pair of Asics running shoes be out-of-line in Spain? I find them immensely comfortable and, after getting a blister once in Rome from wearing more stylish leather shoes, I'm ready for comfort if it won't break any unofficial Spanish dress code.

English One--<BR>Thanks for enlightening us from the US. Now I'll know never to choose that word. It reminds me of the time we were in Romania where there were a lot of beggars etc. One of our guidebooks had a few phrases to use to discourage people who were hassling you. I'd learned the phrase and used it quite a few times. Then we met some Romanians and were having dinner with them. I happened to mention this phrase that we'd been using. From the looks on their faces and the snickers, I think the phrase must have been the equivalent of, &quot;F off!&quot; It would be nice if those translations mentioned the true nuances of some meanings.<BR><BR>Austai--<BR><BR>I haven't owned a pair of sneakers or tennis shoes or whatever in 5 years. Even at home I wear leather shoes to walk. There are lots of manufacturers who make very comfortable shoes for walking other than the typical looking sneaker type shoe. Spend the money to buy a good brand, ask to take them home to walk around for a couple hours to make sure of the fit, and then break them in before leaving by wearing them for walks. Do a search on shoes here; there are lots of threads on this. Josef Siebel, Ecco, Dansk, Merrill, Naturalizer, Birkenstock, Rockport and others make great shoes that are comfortable and won't make you stick out like a sore thumb. The other issue that I see with sneakers is that, for the most part, they look pretty goofy with any other type of pants than jeans. By the way, in Spain (Toledo and Andalucia)I wore my light hikers much more than I'd intended. Most streets are cobblestones or lumpy in the city, and if you go into the ocuntryside there are rocks and mountains.

hightide, Yes, I live in the Midwest and we never say Sneakers. They are called Tennis Shoes everywhere in the Midwest. You say you are from the Midwest, but not knowing about Midwest terms tells me that you have never lived here. If you were a man and talked about your &quot;sneakers&quot; in the Mid West you would be the local laughing stock. Absolute truth. Not that I am proud of it, but that's the way it is here. <BR><BR>Have a great time in Europe!